Considering Going Back to School, Switch Career to Medical Field

[Dillon]

i don't recall including the part where it says "the guy has a job where he knows he can make a living", i think he does still live with his folks, however i don't have much contact with him and i'm reluctant to ask him questions about that subject because i don't want to be intrusive.

Oh I knew you didn’t say that quote I was just saying personally he is probably doing great in what he’s doing for a living. I know nothing else of the guy though.

 

[Steelbookcollector217]

Oh I knew you didn’t say that quote I was just saying personally he is probably doing great in what he’s doing for a living. I know nothing else of the guy though.

yeah i don't know if he is managing well financially or not, i don't bother to ask questions like that, but at the same time, most people or society will view a job title as a busser/cart puller, as being low income or no future in it, not enough to survive on.

 

[Masked Man]

Just commenting on the "male nurse" thing. Don't worry about it. I work in the medical field in a medical office of a hospital. There are lots of guys who are nurses. It's not a weird thing at all.

 

[Mr B]

For anyone that has or thought about going into the nursing medical field would you say it is worth it especially someone who is on the spectrum/ASD? Am I making a right decision or is it silly? I feel like my “autistic flaws” wouldn’t matter as there are quite a few neurodivergent folks in the medical field.

I'm only recently diagnosed, so I was unaware I was autistic as I went on my journey into nursing. I have detailed much of my experience below, but I will first just post some positives of a nurse being autistic.

Positives: Our strong sense of justice. I am one of the biggest advocates for my patients. I have argued with directors and administrators in front of colleagues and patients when they were not treated fairly and I won't stop because my need for fairness is too strong. When patients have refused care I would stay in there room trying to convince them to either take their medications as it is so important in acute psychiatry, and also those that would not shower or change clothes or bed sheets. I would just keep nagging them until they did and after, you could see the overall improvement in their mood, whereas some other nurses would not want to bother putting in the effort and just say okay and walk away when the patient refuses. IN a hospital setting you typically work 3 days a week, and while they are long and very draining on your senses, you do get 3-4 days to recover which is a big help versus a typical 9-5. My awkwardness is less of an issue in a psychiatric setting, I think we all need to have some mental health "issues" of our own to work in the field. Also, our need to always now "why" asking so many questions trying to see all details helps to identify any possible disease process, contribuitng factors, effectiveness of treatment.
I have received so much praise from patients as a RN and NP as they typically say that I care for them, actually listen, and treat them as a person. So Yes, being a male nurse with autism can be done and may be an asset to the field.
And the male part is no big deal. There are a lot of male nurses and I never felt different from being male, I just felt different from my underlying autistic traits.

I am a male nurse, and psychiatric nurse practitioner. I struggled with such low self-esteem and never thought I could realistically be successful in life. I worked minimum wage isolated jobs. After experiencing two separate episodes of kidney stones, I became obsessed with health and fitness and pursed becoming a personal trainer. Well on day 1 I realized I made the biggest mistake of my life because I did not have the social skills to talk/approach people and could not build a client base, and I had constant anxiety every time I was at the gym for work, and became extremely depressed. I then found out through a colleague of the profession of nurse practitioners (she was in school to be one) and all the specialties it has, I never was aware before. So because I was always was fascinated by psychology and have been studying other's behaviors social interactions my whole life, I decided to purse becoming a psychiatric nurse practitioner. I then hyper focused on revolving my life around accomplishing this task. While education always came easy to me, I failed throughout middle-high school because I hated being there. So I never took an SAT or anything. So I taught myself from basic to intermediate math, english, and science topic by spending hours easy day to prepare for college entrance exam. I was told I had some of highest score seen before. I singed up for every prerequisste class needed for acceptance into nursing program, nearly having a 4.0 except for two classes which I despise (English). I got into one of the most competitive nursing schools.

Experience in nursing school: This was the biggest struggle for me. the content is not straightforward black/white answers, it requires a lot of interpretation which was a struggle for me so I was frequently confused on some topics and on exams. My professor one time even stated, "oh you're one of those concrete thinkers are ya." And I struggled with this through the entire program. But where I struggled most was in the clinical setting. I have such a concrete literal way of thinking that it was so hard for me to do the task or skill if it was not as how it was demonstrated in class. I also had so much anxiety interacting with patients, which did improve as semesters went on. The easier part was just asking the basic objective questions but when it became more personal I severly struggled. Another issue was that I knew I only wanted to become a psychiatric nurse so I dreaded having to go to medical floors. I felt so overwhelmed by everything you are responsible for and all of the alarms beeping and all of the people around. Needless to say I did graduate and immediately applied for a psychiatric nurse role and obtained it. I then immediate applied for nurse practitioner school and got in first attempt with only 4 months experience, I think in part because I worked at a teaching research hospital, had great letters of recommendation, and my bachelors degree portion of my nursing degree which all came from online written assignments was a 4.0 (my intial nursing degree which I discussed the struggles with before was an associate degree).

Experience as a nurse: I also struggled in many aspects because of my poor social interaction and not knowing what to say BUT this also was a huge help. In psychiatry when patients are very agitated, threatening, and just need to be heard, I would calmly approach, listen to everything, and I could easily deescalate a situation, in part because I barely spoke and they just felt like they were being heard. Colleagues had always noticed that about me and would say I'd bring such a calming presence. But I did always try and observe other colleagues interactions with patients so I can study on what to say and make it into my own so I can better provide care. After a couple of years I became much better. I worked full-time for nearly 5 years, and resigned when I became a nurse practitioner but I still go back per diem.

Experiences as a nurse practitioner: I again went through all of the same social difficulties as I did in regular nursing school as i did in NP school and my career as an NP (I'm only one year in as an NP). I had so much anxiety interacting, and because my encounters are so much more longer and engaging than a regular RN role, it really effected me and I almost quit a bunch of times the first month and had lengthy conversations with a few colleagues to keep me motivated and I managed to overcome. But trying to keep eye contact (which is one of my most notable autistic symptom) during sessions is so hard, as well as showing broad range of facial expressions instead of that blank flat affect. I came up with a good routine of making the eye contact then briefly looking at my computer screen, then prescriber's book, then try to demonstrate something. And I also work hybrid remote which makes these interactions MUCH easier then in same room together.

Wow I was not expecting to write that much but I hope I was able to help.

 

[Steelbookcollector217]

yeah, the more people on the spectrum i interact with, the more i realize i'm not alone in being underemployed